So Which is It?
by ocarina4
Summary: Henry Sturges meets Chris, A young boy. Henry is later hunted down by a slayer and barely escapes. He meets up with Chris years later and teaches him everything he needs to know about being a vampire hunter.


04/20/2014

Chapter 1

I was so happy that he was back. He made my life happy. He was just a miracle. That miracle was Henry Sturges.

I first met Henry when I was around seven or so, when I was riding my bike down the street alone for the first time. I always took a side street, since the main road that I lived on was busy and not very safe for me to be riding down. I turned the corner to go down that side street and saw a man leaning against a tree farther down the road. I had planned to ride right past him and not even give him a glance, but when I got down there, a car mad a turn onto the street that I was riding on and I was forced to stop right next to him. After the car had passed, he lowered his sunglasses just enough so that I could see his eyes. He said, "You're Chris right?" Being younger and not knowing what else to do, I nodded but didn't say anything back. He got off the tree and started to walk in my direction. "I've waited a long time to finally meet you." He said with a small smile. I gave a nervous smile back and asked who he was. He let out a small chuckle and said," Henry. Henry Sturges." I didn't say anything. "Can you ride your bike down here tomorrow?" he asked. I nodded yes. He smiled.

The next day, as soon as I got back home from school, I finished my homework and got on my bike. Sure enough, there he was. In the exact same spot as yesterday. In the back of my head, I had a feeling that I should turn around and go back home, but I also figured that if he knew who I was than he would probably find me sooner or later. There was also something about him, I didn't know what yet, that made me want to find out and come back again. I rode down to where he was, stopping closer to where he was standing this time. "I'm glad you showed up." He said. He gestured for me to come over to where he was. I hesitated for around two seconds, but then dropped my helmet and walked over. We walked over to a small patch of grass that we both sat down in. We sat in silence for what felt like hours, but was only a matter of seconds. "Chris," He said, finally breaking the silence. "It's very important that you believe me." I answered with a nervous,' I will." He smiled, trying to look friendly. There it was again. That silence. "I am a vampire." He said sadly but strongly. You could tell that his spirits immediately dropped after saying that. I was trying my hardest to stifle my laughter, but he could tell that I didn't believe him. He looked over and said," You promised." I immediately stopped laughing and looked as serious as a seven year old could. He started to tell me more, but with noticeable hesitation. We sat there for hours listening to all the fascinatingly unreal things that he was talking about. The sun started to go down, and he simply said," That's all we have time for." He stood up, extending his hand to help me up. I took it. He started to walk away. I got to my bike, turned around, and said," I can ride my bike tomorrow." He turned around to look at me and smiled. "See you tomorrow." He said.

For months I kept riding my bike down after school to see him and talk to him and learn more about him and his past. We became quite friendly with each other, and even though for the first month or so, I had a hard time believing him, everything started to add up and make sense. I started becoming less and less skeptical about him and what he told me, but I came to believe all of what he said.

One day I was riding down to see him when I saw him standing there, but a little more slumped over than usual and sad looking. He saw that I was riding down the road. I waved at him. He didn't wave back. I got down to him and immediately asked him what was wrong. "This is the last time I'll see you." He said trying to sound strong, but you could hear the sadness in this voice. I was shocked. I was speechless for at least a good minute. I immediately started firing off questions. He cut me off," Someone is coming for me." I started crying. I fell into his arms and sobbed. Instead of talking to each other, we just sat there in silence reflecting on everything that we had talked about and done. It got dark and we got up to leave. I got to my bike and turned around expecting to see him walking away for the last time. Instead I saw him looking right at me, like I was doing to him. "Goodbye." He said, choking trying to get it out. He turned and left.

After that, I found it really hard to stay focused. He was all that I could think about. My mind started to play tricks on me. I thought that I saw Henry someplace, whether it be at a grocery store, school, hanging out with friends or some other place, but after I blinked a couple of times and shook my head, the figment of my imagination disappeared.

Chapter 2

Five years later, all the pain has gone, but the memories still remain. I had been biking with my best friend for around an hour now. We made a turn down the road to where I used to meet Henry. The memories always come back when I go down that road. My friend and I stopped at the place where we used to sit down and talk to get a drink of water and have a bit of a break. We were tired. I nearly drank all of the water out of my bottle. I heard a mans voice say," A boy only drinks that much water when it's one hundred degrees out, or he just biked a mile." I looked around to see where the voice was coming from. There must have been someone standing behind a tree. I reached into my backpack, found my Swiss army knife and popped open the blade. " So which is it?" The voice said. A man stepped out from behind the tree and took off his sunglasses. It was Henry.

I was paralyzed. It took my mind a second to figure out what was going on. I dropped the knife, stood up and ran towards him at full speed while sobbing like an idiot. I ran straight into his arms and hugged him as hard as I could. By now we were both hugging each other and in tears, overjoyed to see each other. "You said that we would never see each other again. I am so glad that you were wrong." I choked on the words.

Chapter 3

We had a bit of a hard time explaining things to my friend. "Oh, Drew, this is Henry Sturges" I said gesturing behind me to where he was standing. Henry smiled and extended his hand. Drew took it with a slight, but noticeable hesitation. "Henry is a, uh, um…" "Family friend." Henry cut me off. Thank god. My friend looked less confused but I'm pretty sure that he was wondering why we were both drying off tears we had on our faces. He didn't ask any questions so we decided not to make matters more complicated. My friend and Henry talked for a minute or two, introducing themselves to one another. "Can I possibly talk to you later?" Henry said to me. "Sure!" I replied quickly. "But we'll have to talk after seven o' clock." I added. "That's fine." Henry assured. We said our goodbyes and my friend and I headed back home. On the ride back I must have had the biggest smile on my face that the world would have ever seen.

The clock hit seven and I was on my way, pedaling faster than ever. I rounded the corner at top speed and looked down the road, enlightened to see Henry leaning against the same tree. I jumped off my bike while it was still going and threw off my helmet. Once again, I ran into his arms and hugged him hard. We both had a lot of questions for each other. "Where have you been all this time if you were still here?" I finally asked. Henry took a bit to come up with what to say. "Someone really did come after me, but I won the fight in a pinch. After that I wanted to come and see you, but I," "You what?" I interjected. "You never saw me after that! You don't know how I felt!" I yelled at him, even though I didn't mean to, and started to fight back tears. " I needed to know how you would react." He let out. "Seriously? How could you do that to someone?" I yelled. I was infuriated. I got up and ran to my bike and rode home without another word.

A week or so later my dad and I were pulling into the driveway after coming back from the store. I looked into a window to see a man sitting in our living room across from my mom. I saw that man pull off sunglasses. I instantly knew who it was. I ran out of the car, still moving and not quite coming to a stop yet, and ran to the door at full speed and pounded on it so hard, that I was surprised it didn't break. My mom came to the door and opened it for me. I angrily walked right past her and into our living room. "Henry Sturges," I said loudly. "Get the hell out of my house." He stood up. "You don't understand," he said. I started to walk towards him picking up speed," You're the one that doesn't understand!" I jumped up and tried to punch him in the face. He sidestepped and I missed. We got into a hand-to-hand combat fight. I saw that my Swiss army knife was in reach and grabbed it off a shelf. I flipped open the blade and continued to fight. Henry got a grip on both of my hands and held them in place. " Chris, stop." He said. I continued to try to force the knife into his chest, even though I never could have over powered him. "Chris." I turned around to see my mom giving me the look that she only gives when something is true and I need to believe it. I pulled a way from Henry and stormed up into my room. I tossed my Swiss army knife into my backpack. I got a jacket out of my closet and put it on. I went downstairs into the living room where Henry and my mom were and said," I'll be back before six." "Where are you going?" my mom asked. "I said I'll be back before six." I replied.

Without giving her a chance to ask again, I went outside, got on my bike and rode down to the grassy field where Henry and I had always met. I started crying, which turned into a mental breakdown. I heard someone stepping through the grass. I looked up to see Henry's face looking down at me. I went back to crying with my head in my hands as he sat down next to me and put his arm around me, trying to be comforting. After around five minutes of nothing being said, Henry broke the silence. "You acted exactly how I wanted you to." "How would you know?' I asked. "I was watching you, and sometimes, you saw me too." He replied. I stopped crying. I thought hard. No. That couldn't be possible. "So those times when I thought that I was just seeing things, you really were there?" I asked. Henry smiled. "Every time." I fell into his arms and lost all hatred that I had of him and felt a new, amazing respect for him. The most amazing part was that I was still back home before six.

Chapter 4

Instead of going our separate ways, Henry came back home with me. I walked my bike back next to him. When we got home, we both went inside. My parents were glad to see both of us together. I went up to my room and sat on my bed. Henry sat next to me. "What are you going to do?" I asked. "Probably stay here for a while with you." He replied. " Do my parents know about the, you know," I nervously asked. "Yes. They know I'm a vampire." He said without looking awkward, which amazed me. I let out a mall sigh of relief and Henry smiled at me. "Wait, and they're like, okay with me being around you?" I asked kind of confused. " Your parents have met me before and we've become quite familiar." He replied. "Really?" I asked slightly astonished. Henry started to tell a story that lasted for a couple of hours. I was fascinated. It was soon time for bed and I got changed into some other clothes. I hugged Henry one last time and turned out the light. "Mind if I sit down?' He asked in the dark. "Go ahead." I happily replied. I heard the sound of my desk chair being pulled out. I could make out Henry in the moonlight and I saw him pull a book out of his coat pocket. "What's that?" I asked. I imagined he smiled, but replied," You'll find out."

Chapter 5

The next morning, I woke up to see Henry in the same spot as he was last night. "Good morning." He said cheerily. "Hey." I replied before I stretched and let out a yawn. I was happy to see him. The happiness broke when I remembered that it was Monday. I rolled over and looked at my clock. 8:17. I was late. I shot up out of bed as quickly as I could and ran into my closet to get changed. Henry said something, but I wasn't really sure what. I was too busy to worry about other things. I threw my laptop into my backpack and ran downstairs. I rummaged around for my helmet and said goodbye to my parents. Henry was waiting by the door. Right as I was about to open the door to go, Henry told me," As far as the school is concerned, you're out sick today." I let go of the doorknob. "What?" I asked. "Today is training. We start at one o' clock." He replied. "Ok. Training for what?" I asked still confused.

He walked into the kitchen without an answer. I followed him in and saw that my mom was making her French toast. "Eat up. You'll need all the energy that you can get for today." My mom said as she passed me a plate. I grabbed two pieces of French toast and sat down next to Henry. I noticed he was eating too. "So you eat normal food too?" I asked while I gave him a funny look. "I wouldn't miss this French toast breakfast for the world!" He said as he smiled and took a big bite. In time, breakfast came to an end and I went back into my room. I changed into something nicer than my school uniform and more fitting for training. Henry walked into my room. "Can you tell me what the training is for?" I asked. "Not until we start." He said. "Then I'm going to go for a bike ride." I replied slightly annoyed. "Fine by me." He said.

I got back at around eleven thirty. Henry greeted me at the door. "How was your ride?" He asked. "Good." I replied while panting. "You made it home just in time for lunch." He said while walking me inside. I walked into the kitchen to smell fried chicken. It smelled so nice and after a long bike ride. I was so hungry too. After I finished eating it was fifteen minutes before one o' clock. Since my clothes were all sweaty I decided to change one last time.

Here I was. Outside in my back yard standing right next to Henry. "What now?" I asked. "Training." He said with a smile. "Training for what?" I asked annoyed. He looked at me and smiled. He started to walk towards me. I slowly backed up and he started running towards me. He jumped up into the air and clocked me in the face. I fell flat on the ground. He stood over me. "What the heck was that for?" I asked angrily as I got up. "It's training." He said. I tried to hit him back but he sidestepped and I missed. He threw his leg down and tripped me. I fell again. We started fighting. I realized that when we fought the first time, I had no chance at winning. He was hardly trying now and could have easily killed me. This went on for a ridiculous amount of time. An hour or so. I was covered in bruises and scars, whereas Henry was perfectly normal and looked as if nothing had happened.

He held out his hand to me to help me up. I thought that if I took it he would flip me over or something. I tried to get up myself, but I physically could not. I took his hand and he lifted me up easily. "Are we done yet?" I asked while coughing up blood. "One more thing." He said. We walked into the garage and closed the door. I couldn't see a thing. Now I felt like he was just taunting me. I was being beaten up by a vampire in the dark when I couldn't even fight one in the light. This only lasted for around five minutes thankfully. I walked out of the garage with more bruises, scars, and blood than I had before. "Now we're done." He said.

We walked inside and I went straight into the shower with all my clothes on. I cleaned off and looked much better after I was clean and dry. "That was not fun" I said. "Oh, just wait." He said with a small chuckle. The same routine went on for days and I slowly got better. I mean, I was still horrible, but I was getting better. This is when he slowly started to integrate teaching me certain techniques for fighting.

One day, he asked me what my weapon of choice would be, "Something with range. A bow and arrows or throwing knives." I answered. The next day, he gave me a recurve bow with twelve silver-tipped arrows and three silver throwing knives. "Why silver?" I asked. "Vampires hate silver." He responded. By now I had figured that he was preparing me for vampire hunting. For the next month or so, instead of training in my back yard, we went down to the archery range and worked on shooting and throwing. I was naturally good at archery due to all the practice that I had, but throwing knives took a little more practice. I progressed slowly but surely, and might have been able to survive if a vampire attacked me.

Chapter 6

"Chris." Henry said to me. "We're going to try something a little different." He said. I was relieved at first, but then thought that it would be something much worse. "What are we going to do?" I asked. "Every night for a week, I will come after you. Your goal is to escape me." He said. I was shocked. "Please don't hurt me." I said nervously. "We might have to get into a skirmish, but nothing too bad." He assured me. "Take this." He said as he handed me a Motorola razor flip phone. "Keep it on you at all times and answer it every time it rings." He said very seriously. I took it from his hand and put it in my pocket.

The next day, I was at a church for a rehearsal for my choir. It had just ended and I was going outside to go back home. The phone rang. I picked it up. "Look behind you." I heard right before the line went dead. I turned around to see Henry leaning against the wall. He started to walk towards me. I picked up from a walk to a run. I ran upstairs and out into the courtyard. I saw that Henry was running towards me right behind me. I started running again and turned onto the sidewalk. I looked behind me to see how close he was. He wasn't behind me. I came to an intersection. I looked behind me in the other direction. There he was. Running towards me. "Chris stop!" He shouted. I didn't believe him. I was to get away from him and that's all. He kept running towards me. The light had just turned green and cars were moving now. I had to get away. I ran into the street dodging cars and jumping over some of them. I got to the other side of the intersection. I looked back to see Henry stand there just looking at me. I turned and ran sown the street. The phone rang. I picked it up. "There is a vampire on the streets" I heard Henry's voice say. "I know you're on the streets." I said before I hung up. I ran into an alley to catch my breath. I saw this man who looked like he was drunk walking towards me. I stood up. "Oh god." I muttered to myself. The phone rang. "Chris I wasn't kidding." Henry said with a little more force. "Yeah I know." I said. "What?" He asked confused. "I'm in the Parkview alley. Get here fast." I said as I hung up. The man was getting closer. "You smell nice." He said as he let out a smile. I saw white fangs sheath out of his canines. He ran towards me and we got into a fight. I thought for a moment that I might make it out of this. He put his hand around my neck and threw me into a wall. My head started spinning. Within seconds I was off the wall and thrown into another. I felt consciousness going fast. He lowered his mouth to my neck. That's all that I remember before I blacked out.

Chapter 7

I woke up in a dark room with only an oil lamp making light. I had no idea where I was. I tried to get up. But a searing pain filled my back. I let out a moan. I heard footsteps coming from above me. I thought that I had woken up my kidnapper. I didn't even bother moving because I didn't see the point. I was nervous though. My heart raced faster for every step I heard, getting closer and closer. Henry walked into the doorway. "You're awake." He said with a smile. I was relieved that it was him and not some other person. "Where are we?" I asked. "We're in my house." I said. I gave him a surprised look. "It's a little dark." I said. "It's just this room. He walked over to my bedside and helped me get up. I leaned against him and he held me up. We walked out of the room and up a flight of stairs. "Here's the main living area." He said as we walked into a big room. We walked through a door. "The kitchen." He said he took me on a tour of his _huge_ house. "Where do you live?" I asked finally. "You know that big Peyfair sign right?" He asked. "Yeah. I always wanted to meet the owner, but never thought that he would be a vampire." I replied. He let out a small chuckle. He showed me to the shower and I got cleaned up. I walked down into the kitchen following the smell. Henry was cooking up a beef stew. He had that book in his hands too. "Hey." I said. Henry looked up and smiled at me. I sat down nest to him. "What is that book?" I asked. "It's a diary." He replied. "Whose diary?" I asked. "Abraham Lincolns." He said. "Really? That book is Abraham Lincoln writing down his life?" I asked. "Yeah." He replied. "That's funny. I'm related to him." I said. Henry looked at me. "You are?" he asked. "Yeah. I've heard about that book too. Apparently he gave it to his greatest friend the night he went out to the theatre when he got assassinated. How did you get your hands on it?" I asked. Henry looked astonished. "I, I was that friend." He said. Now it was my turn to be shocked. "You, you knew Abraham Lincoln?" I asked. "Yes." We sat in silence for a good minute. I stood up and hugged him tight. He was like a time portal through my family. "What was he like?" I asked. "He was a great man." He said while looking into space. I leaned against him and we just sat there doing nothing. I went over t the big pot that the stew was cooking in and ladled some out into two bowls. I brought them over and set them down where we were sitting. "What happened? And how long have I been out?" I asked. "You got attacked by a vampire. And I got to that alley just in time. I fought him off. You had already blacked out, so I carried you to my house. You've been out for four days." He replied. "Four days?" I asked. "I need to get home." I said as I got up. I found my way to the front door and stepped outside. I remembered that I didn't have my bike with me. My house was a short distance from where I was and I decided to run home.

I got home only to find Henry waiting there. "Your parents are out of town. They wanted you to stay with me." He said. "Fine." I said as I picked the lock to the front door and opened it. "I need some things though," I added. I went upstairs into my room and Threw my laptop into a bag along with a few clothes and books. I took my phone off the counter and remembered the phone that Henry had given me. I felt around in my pockets and wasn't able to find it. I asked Henry if he knew where it was. He pulled it out of his pocket and smiled at me. I grabbed my bag and we headed out of the house. This time I got on my bike. I was convinced that I would beat Henry there, but there he was again, waiting for me at the door. I hopped off my bike and set it against the side of the house. "Do you have a pool?" I asked. "In the back." He replied. I went inside and into the back yard and was happy to see that there was a deep pool and a set of diving boards. I changed into my swimsuit and jumped in. Henry cam out and was surprised to see that I was swimming laps really well. After about an hour, I went back inside and got unchanged. I decided to loo around the house a bit more. There was nothing much, just bedrooms and bathrooms mainly. There was a room at the end of the hall that I was going down that I wanted to check out. I opened the door and found the room filled with musical instruments. I must have fallen to my knees. Henry came up from behind me. "I've had lots of time to learn a lot of instruments." He said to me. I stepped inside of the room and also found microphones in places. There was every possible instrument in this room and I wanted to play all of them. I discovered that all of the microphones in that room were hooked up to a soundboard, which was hooked up to a Macintosh computer. I was overjoyed.

I started to wonder what we were going to do until my parents came back. "More training." Henry said with a big smile.


End file.
